Help, Should I separate my clowns ?

[CamG]

Hi,
Over the past 9 months, my clowns have been aggressively fighting trying to figure out who will be male & female. However, they both looked great the whole time. In the last 2 weeks, things have started to change, one has bulked up and looks great. The other is beaten up to the point where I am getting nervous. The beaten up one is still eating but is looking very thin and is really pale. It's hiding in the rocks but the aggressive one finds him and chases him and attacks.

Do I separate them ? or will this cause them to start all over again after I put them together again?
Do I let them figure it out on their own?

Thanks,
Cam

 

[GoVols]

Could both of your clowns already been females from the get go?

Just thinking out loud and trying to help

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

It’s more than likely that both clowns were in the transition to female when you purchased them. It can range from being fairly difficult to nearly impossible to reverse back to male depending on how far into the transition a sub- female is. I would rehome whichever clown you care less about, and attempt to get another clown (that you’re 99% sure is a male) to pair with whichever clown you keep.

When picking a new clown, be sure it is close to the existing clown’s size but smaller (there will likely be some aggression at first so you don’t want a tiny clown). I would try to choose the new clown from a harem, and stay away from picking the largest 2 of said harem. (One or both of these is likely also a female/ sub-female)

 

[CamG]

Hi, Thank you, both for the replies.
I should have mentioned a few more things in my original post.
These clowns are captive bred from a local breeder that supplies one of my LFS. When I got them they were in a tank with about 20 other clowns all from the same hatch and all the same size. They were much less than a 1/2" in size. That's what drew me to them. They were so tiny and cute....LOL.... probably the smallest clowns I have seen ready to be sold.

9 months later ( I like to feed them ) they are over an inch, probably pushing over 1 1/4". They both grew the exact same amount since they have been in my tank. They have been fighting the whole time with no ill effects until now.

They are also the only fish in the tank.

Do you think they both could have become females that early ?

 

[GoVols]

Hi, Thank you, both for the replies.
I should have mentioned a few more things in my original post.
These clowns are captive bred from a local breeder that supplies one of my LFS. When I got them they were in a tank with about 20 other clowns all from the same hatch and all the same size. They were much less than a 1/2" in size. That's what drew me to them. They were so tiny and cute....LOL.... probably the smallest clowns I have seen ready to be sold.

9 months later ( I like to feed them ) they are over an inch, probably pushing over 1 1/4". They both grew the exact same amount since they have been in my tank. They have been fighting the whole time with no ill effects until now.

They are also the only fish in the tank.

Do you think they both could have become females that early ?

To be honest I don't know but I'd hate for the other one to be bullied to the death.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

Hi, Thank you, both for the replies.
I should have mentioned a few more things in my original post.
These clowns are captive bred from a local breeder that supplies one of my LFS. When I got them they were in a tank with about 20 other clowns all from the same hatch and all the same size. They were much less than a 1/2" in size. That's what drew me to them. They were so tiny and cute....LOL.... probably the smallest clowns I have seen ready to be sold.

9 months later ( I like to feed them ) they are over an inch, probably pushing over 1 1/4". They both grew the exact same amount since they have been in my tank. They have been fighting the whole time with no ill effects until now.

They are also the only fish in the tank.

Do you think they both could have become females that early ?

Hmm.. I don’t believe so. Usually you don’t see much aggression from smaller clowns like that.
Do you have any pictures of the clowns? I’m interested in how the beat up one is looking. Also, what size tank are they in?

 

[CamG]

The tank is a Fluval 13.5g
I will get a picture of them once the lights come on.

I am doing a weekly water change later today, I will use the change out water to set up a hospital tank so I am ready if I have to remove one of them.

Thanks for the help and advise so far.

Cam

 

[OrionN]

It seem like your clown mature and start to fight for dominant. What kind of clowns are they? Are they full blood Ocellaris or Percula or are they a hybrid of the two (or other clown species)?
If they are Ocellaris or Percula, they will be fine. If they are hybrid they often have rougher pairing but likely OK. Other more aggressive species like maroon, it is much harder to pair them.
If you worry, you should return the weaker one for a much smaller younger clown at the LFS. If you need to separate the one clown until he heal so you can bring him back to the FLS, then you should.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

What kind of clowns are they?


If they are Ocellaris or Percula, they will be fine. If they are hybrid they often have rougher pairing but likely OK. Other more aggressive species like maroon, it is much harder to pair them.

Another reason why I wanted the pictures[emoji6]